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MATCH REPORT AND PLAYER RATINGS - LUTON TOWN 2-6 MANCHESTER CITY

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Image courtesy of eurosport.com

Five goals from Erling Haaland saw Manchester City book their place in the next round of the FA Cup in fashionable style, as they overcame Rob Edwards' Luton Town to win emphatically.


Haaland, who saw four of his five goals assisted by the fit again Kevin de Bruyne, was on fire all evening, and could've easily have scored a further two had it not been for good goalkeeping from Tim Krul for the Hatters.


The Blues got their names on the scoresheet after three minutes with a superb team goal. Manuel Akanji did an excellent job driving the ball out of defence, before playing an incisive pass towards Matheus Nunes.


The Portuguese midfielder made a good decision by playing a reverse ball through to De Bruyne on the underlap, who cut the ball back to Haaland to stab home from inside the six yard box.


The Norwegian's second goal came straight from the route one textbook. Stefan Ortega-Moreno, who was deputising in goal for Ederson pinged a long ball forward for Haaland, who laid it off for De Bruyne, span past Teden Mengi and received the through ball from the Belgian, before smashing the ball through Krul's legs.


He completed his hattrick before half time as he pounced on yet another De Bruyne through ball, before electing to delicately clip the ball past Krul's outstretched arm to see the Dutch goalkeeper pull the ball out of the net for the third time in the half.


Luton pulled two goals back via a fantastic brace from Jordan Clark - the first a wicked curling effort from outside the box, the second a ferocious near post half volley - which was enough to cause some nerves in the City ranks.


But it was the Haaland/De Bruyne once again that put those nerves to bed almost instantly. Club captain Kyle Walker played a fantastic long pass with the outside of his foot for De Bruyne charging into space, who cut the ball across to the 23 year old for his easiest finish of the night.


There was time for Haaland to hit five in a single match for the second time in his City career, as he collected Bernardo Silva's pass and lashed the ball through Krul, who should've done better in preventing the strike from squirming past him.


Mateo Kovacic grabbed his second goal for City with an excellent long range strike to finish off the rout for City in fine fashion.


It was a magnificent result for the Blues, who were able to rest the likes of Ruben Dias, Rodri and Phil Foden before the Manchester derby at the weekend without seeing their performance suffer.


They face Newcastle United in the FA Cup in the quarter finals at the Etihad Stadium in their last match before the final international break of the season.


It'll be a tough match against a side with the desire of Newcastle to win trophies, but it's a match they should be able to win so long as they show the quality they did against Luton.


Before then however, it is the second Manchester derby of the season, with City heading into the match as strong favourites against a United side weakened by the absence of key man Rasmus Hojlund and the poor form of the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.


A win would be the perfect way for City to head into a tough run of fixtures in all competitions, in which they will also face Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa in crunch matches in the Premier League title race.


Here are the player ratings for the triumph in the FA Cup:


Ortega-Moreno - 6.5/10 - Was involved in the second goal with an excellently precise long ball up to Haaland. However, it was his poor clearance that led almost directly to Luton's second goal, which marks his down slightly.


Walker - 6.5/10 - After a shaky start to the game, he was more or less solid throughout, despite a few moments where he struggled up against Tahith Chong. His pass through to De Bruyne in the build up for the fourth goal was as magnificent as one the Belgian himself might have made, and was comfortably the best pass in the game.


Stones - 8/10 - Looked exceptional roaming around midfield, linking up well with De Bruyne, Bernardo and Kovacic in midfield. He also got the assist for the sixth goal (although most of the quality involved in that goal came from the Croatian!)


Akanji - 9/10 - Magnificent performance at centre back. He won every single duel against a good striker in Carlton Morris, and looked good in possession. The best part of his performance, however, came with his ball carrying from the back, which was an essential part of City's first goal.


Ake - 7/10 - Another solid game, where he kept an excellent player in Chiedozie Ogbene quiet all game. Slowly becoming City's most reliable defender, due to reliability with fitness and performance when he's on the pitch.


Bernardo - 7/10 - Buzzed around the pitch all evening, looking a constant threat. Helped City maintain control and his forward thinking passing was very sharp, as evidenced by his assist for Haaland's fifth goal.


Kovacic - 8/10 - A neat and tidy performance from Kovacic at the base of midfield. His performance was good enough that City didn't noticeably miss Rodri, and he topped it all off with an excellent strike.


Nunes - 7.5/10 - Looked a lot sharper than he has done recently, and looked effective carrying the ball past players. Needs to wise up in the final third a bit with more consistent end product, but the signs are promising when he plays out wide and in a more advanced role.


De Bruyne - 10/10 - Simply unbelievable. Razor sharp all evening playing in an advanced midfield position, as he was the first to every ball and incisive with every pass he played. It seemed inevitable that he'd find Haaland on all four occasions in which the Norwegian scored, such is the quality and consistency of his playmaking.


Grealish - 7/10 - Was the quietest of City's attackers and midfielders, but was having a solid game no doubt, and contributed to City's control game as he usually does. So unfortunate to come off again with what appears to be a recurrence of his groin injury, which will likely rule him out for the upcoming big games City have to face.


Haaland - 10/10 - His best overall game for City in terms of link up play; he was constantly involved throughout, coming deep and laying the ball off to midfielders attacking the spaces they were granted by Luton's open high press. Oh, and he scored five goals, each of which was finished in clinical fashion.


Substitutes:


Doku - 6.5/10 - Like Walker, he had a sloppy start to the game, but grew into it well. Despite Grealish's injury apparently ruling him out of the derby, Doku's starting place is by no means guaranteed, with Nunes and Oscar Bobb both in contention to start on the left hand side of City's attack.


Bobb - 6.5/10 - A few nice touches in wide and central areas, and was always looking to create in his brief cameo on the pitch.

Alvarez - 6.5/10 - Offered a different outlet up front in his brief appearance on the pitch, making up for his lack of physicality with intelligence and good technical ability.


Gomez - 6.5/10 - Got a few touches of the ball and passed accurately, but nothing really much to note.


Lewis - 6.5/10 - Did well out of possession a few times, and was solid as per usual when he did have the ball.




 
 
 

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